Stories Category: Intensive Care
Quality Improvement Initiatives in Sepsis in an Emerging Country
This quality improvement initiative in sepsis in an emerging country was associated with a reduction in mortality and with improved compliance with quality indicators. However, this reduction was sustained only in private... read more
Utility and Diagnostic Accuracy of Bedside Lung Ultrasonography During MET
Lung ultrasonography can be rapidly performed in the majority of patients with MET activation for respiratory deterioration. As an independent diagnostic test, lung ultrasonography is non-inferior to the medical emergency... read more
Preventing Harm in the ICU – Building a Culture of Safety and Engaging Patients and Families
Preventing harm remains a persistent challenge in the ICU despite evidence-based practices known to reduce the prevalence of adverse events. This review seeks to describe the critical role of safety culture and patient and... read more
Technologic Distractions
Summary of Approaches to Manage Alert Quantity With Intent to Reduce Alert Fatigue and Suggestions for Alert Fatigue Metrics. Approaches for managing alert fatigue in the ICU are provided as a result of reviewing tested interventions... read more
Clinicians’ Perception and Experience of Organ Donation From Brain-Dead Patients
ICU clinicians are primarily involved in organ donation after brain death of ICU patients. Their perceptions of organ donation may affect outcomes. Our objective was to describe ICU clinician’s perceptions and experience... read more
Unplugged & Reconnected – Recovering from Burnout
Does your desk ever look like this? Mine does. WAY too often. Insert the piles of papers, books, journals and mail I need to get to on the side also. When I look at this photo, it seems absolutely ridiculous. Why on earth... read more
Noninvasive Ventilation in Patients With Hematologic Malignancy
Two-thirds of patients with Hematologic Malignancy and respiratory failure failed Noninvasive Ventilation (NIV) and required endotracheal intubation, and had high subsequent mortality. Patients who failed NIV had higher Paco2,... read more
5-Year Trends of Critical Care Practice and Outcomes
According to researchers in the U.S., analyses of patients, practices, and outcomes from a large geographically dispersed sample of adult ICUs revealed trends of increasing age and acuity, higher rates of adherence to best... read more
Early Troponin I in Critical Illness and its Association with Hospital Mortality
TnI is an independent predictor of hospital mortality and correlates most highly with the APS component of APACHE II. It does not improve risk prediction. We would not advocate the adoption of routine troponin analysis on... read more
Benzodiazepines and Delirium in ICU Patients
We have learned an extraordinary amount about ICU delirium over the last 2 decades, which is associated with increased duration of mechanical ventilation, length of hospital stay, long-term cognitive impairment, and mortality... read more
An Alternative Consent Process for Minimal Risk Research in the ICU
Seeking consent for minimal risk research in the ICU poses challenges, especially when the research is time-sensitive. Our aim was to determine the extent to which ICU patients or surrogates support a deferred consent process... read more
The Lactate Dilemma
After a long and exhausting discussion with an inferior human being, a cardiologist, which happens to be an old friend, I decided to write some thoughts about lactate. So, I'll do like I do in my lectures, which is state... read more
Association Between Survival and Time of Day for RRT Calls
Rapid response team activation is less frequent during the early morning and is followed by a spike in mortality in the 7 AM hour. These findings suggest that failure to rescue deteriorating patients is more common overnight.... read more
Selepressin – An Effective Substitute for Norepinephrine
Selepressin, a novel selective vasopressin V1A agonist, is an effective substitute for norepinephrine in a phase IIa randomized, placebo-controlled trial in septic shock patients. Vasopressin is widely used for vasopressor... read more
NIH Herpesvirus Study Leads to Discovery of Potential Broad-Spectrum Antiviral
Scientists studying how regulated herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection unexpectedly found that inhibiting EZH2/1 suppressed viral infection. The research group, from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases... read more
Incidence, Prevalence, and Management of MRSA Bacteremia Across Patient Populations
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is still a major global healthcare problem. Of concern is S. aureus bacteremia, which exhibits high rates of morbidity and mortality and can cause metastatic or... read more
Mastering Intensive Care
Is the patient the centre of every action you take in the ICU? Do you exude calm and enthusiastic energy and greet other team members warmly and genuinely? Do you seek pleasure in seeing colleagues grow to become more skilled... read more
